1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of ice making and, more particularly, to icemakers which produce clear ice pieces.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, ice pieces produced with standard icemakers tend to include air bubbles or other imperfections that lend a cloudy or impure appearance to the ice. Therefore, there has been an interest in constructing icemakers which produce clear ice pieces. One approach to preventing the formation of cloudy ice is by agitating or moving water in an ice try during the freezing process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,956 teaches an ice making method wherein a plurality of freezing elements are immersed in a pan of water which is agitated by a plurality of paddles during a freezing process. However, this type of icemaker requires multiple moving parts which make production and maintenance of the icemaker more costly.
Additionally, it is known in the art to produce ice cubes by freezing water about the periphery of evaporator fingers. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0218518 feeds water to a first cavity of a multi-cavity mold, where it cascades into the next cavity until all the cavities are full. Fingers of an evaporator are located in the respective cavities, and ice pieces form on the fingers. The fingers are heated in order to release the formed ice pieces from the fingers and drop the ice into a container below. However, such systems do not provide the advantages of the clear icemakers discussed above. A similar system is also depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,351, which includes a cam motor that periodically rocks water freezing cells to remove air bubbles on the surface of evaporator fingers. Although this system improves ice quality by removing air bubbles on the surface of the evaporator fingers, there continues to be a need for alternative icemakers that provide improved ice quality and clarity using minimal moving parts.